Because the story is presented entirely through Viv's perspective, the reader misses out on exploring the lives of other characters, because the protagonist herself doesn't seem interested in being particularly observant in that regard. Mathieu's writing doesn't take itself too seriously, which wouldn't have been much of a problem had the focus of her book not been about one of the most pressing social issues today. Mathieu speeds through the entire journey instead of giving it the time needed to develop-robbing readers of the chance to witness the struggles involved in breaking out of a conservative community. Vivian's growth from a high school teen harbouring internalised misogyny to a more well-informed feminist doesn't hold a great deal of substance either. Readers never gets to see Vivian's mother acting as the fierce feminist she was once supposed to be, but we do get our fair share of her encouraging unhealthy compromises with defeatist statements like, 'Sometimes a moderate Republican is the best we're going to get'. This is worsened by Mathieu's constantly apologetic tone and the surface-level exploration of feminism through the 'Riot grrrl' zines.

Instead of giving us an insight into present day fourth-wave feminism which incorporates intersectionality into the feminist movement, Mathieu stuck to the basics of second-wave feminism. Jennifer Mathieu's story, I'd say, fails to live up to its promise of a feminist upending of traditional YA literature. Here is where the YA bestseller has gone wrong.

Novel moxie